Ryan Garza, a military policeman with 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, hangs onto Beeville Police Department Sgt. Ryan Treviño and Bee County Deputy Sheriff Cecil Daniels as they practice rescuing an injured hostage from a room at the BPD range Tuesday. The exercise was one of the live fire drills led by SWAT trainer Robert Leal this week.

BEEVILLE — The heat was unbearable Tuesday afternoon but members of the Beeville Police Department, Bee County Sheriff’s Office, Rockport Police Department and Taft Police Department were out in the middle of it.

The event was a second round of live fire practice for the day on the BPD’s firing range off FM Road 673.

Officers had to wipe sweat from their eyes throughout the exercises being led by Robert Leal, a former BPD officer who has been working for years with the Austin Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team.

Leal is the founder of R.L. Tactical, a Round Rock-based company that trains SWAT officers in the fine art of beating bad guys and stopping them from hurting innocent victims.

Leal was in town from Monday through Wednesday of this week lecturing officers in the classroom and putting them through repeated drills, both on the range and in residences in the Capehart Subdivision.

The main focus of this course was hostage rescue. The trainees were learning the fine art of entering a building, taking out bad guys with expertly fired rifles and pistols, and then getting the hostages to safety.

This was one of several visits to Beeville planned by Leal and area law enforcement agencies.

The SWAT expert and experienced sniper for the APD is scheduled to be back in town for other courses before the end of the year.

During this week’s course, officers practiced tactics, including how to enter a room and rescue a fallen comrade.

The officers ended their Tuesday afternoon range session with a short-range pistol shooting competition that was won by a team led by BCSO Deputy Cecil Daniels.

The team captain was presented with a special coin issued to SWAT members of the APD.

Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at reporter@mySouTex.com.